Applied Micro Seminar : Every Tuesday
Time: 12:15 pm – 13:30 pm
Date: 26th of March
Room : 3001

Anna Raute (Queen Mary University London) “Family friendly workplace policies”

Abstract : The literature has studied the willingness to pay for family friendly amenities, but there is less known about the supply side and the incentives for firms to provide these amenities. There are two main incentives for firms to offer family-friendly workplace policies. First, such amenities may increase employee retention or reduce the duration of labor market breaks following parenthood. Second, if some workers are willing to pay for these amenities, it can lower the firm’s recruitment costs. Our study uses German matched employer-employee data matched with detailed survey panel data on firm provision of childcare to examine these motives. We find that employer-provided childcare enhances retention and shortens labor market breaks for mothers, especially for high-wage mothers. It also contributes to employment growth, disproportionately driven by attracting female talent. These findings can be rationalized through a stylized model of imperfect competition in the labor market, where family-friendly workplace policies are modelled as an amenity with direct production benefits.

Organizers:
Benoît SCHMUTZ (Pôle d’économie du CREST)
Clément MALGOUYRES (Pôle d’économie du CREST)
Sponsors:
CREST